Pam Dobbie Wellness

09/15/2026

There seems to be a big connection.

If you have MCAS and a history of mold exposure, what was the first sign something was wrong? 👇

https://pamdobbielife.substack.com/p/the-histamine-connection-why-mold-illness-and-mcas-almost-always-show-up-together?r=8yfp34

09/13/2026

I overheard a conversation today that got me thinking about something I’ve been noticing more and more.

We have become incredibly good at therapy language.

We know our attachment styles. We know our triggers. We talk about boundaries and nervous systems and trauma and agency. We can explain why we choose the people we choose and why we respond the way we respond.

And sometimes we are still living the exact same pattern.

There’s a point where self-awareness can become another way of staying stuck. We get better and better at narrating what is happening without actually doing anything differently.

After more than 22 years as a therapist, I’m increasingly interested in that space:

You understand the pattern. But, you’re still living it.

What happens after insight?

How do you actually make the decision, have the conversation, tolerate the discomfort, change the relationship, or stop repeating the thing you already understand?

I think therapy should help us do more than become sophisticated narrators of our own lives.

At some point, insight needs to become action.

09/10/2026

Sometimes what looks like burnout isn’t a need for a better morning routine, stronger boundaries, or a week off.

Sometimes the body has been compensating for too much, for too long.

Chronic stress. Illness. Grief. Poor sleep. Hormonal changes. Inflammation. Caregiving. Work that requires you to override yourself every day.

Eventually, the system gets expensive to run.

You may still be functioning. You may even look completely fine from the outside. But everything takes more effort. Decisions feel heavier. Small demands feel disproportionately large. You stop wanting to make plans because even things you enjoy sound like work.

We’re quick to call that burnout.

Sometimes it is.

But I think a better question is: What is your body spending so much energy trying to manage?

That question leaves room for biology, psychology, environment, relationships, and the realities of your life.

And it’s often a much more useful place to begin.

09/09/2026

I came across a study today that sent me down an interesting rabbit hole.

The study was about puerarin, a compound found in kudzu root. What caught my attention wasn’t what the researchers were originally studying. It was what puerarin appeared to do in the gut.

In animal research, puerarin helped restore the intestinal mucus barrier and tight junction proteins, while also reducing inflammatory signaling through something called TLR4.

In very simple terms, TLR4 is one of the immune system’s alarm systems. One thing that can activate it is LPS, a bacterial product from the gut. When the intestinal barrier isn’t working well, that alarm system may get exposed to things it normally wouldn’t encounter in the same way.

Once activated, TLR4 can set off a chain of inflammatory signaling that ultimately increases prostaglandins such as PGE2, which have effects on inflammation, immune activity, blood vessels, temperature regulation, and the brain.

What I find fascinating is the bigger question:

What if, for some people with chronic inflammatory illness, part of what we think of as “systemic” illness is being continually driven or amplified by what’s happening at the intestinal barrier?

Puerarin certainly isn’t proven to be the answer. Most of this research is still preclinical. But the intersection of the gut barrier, bacterial products, immune signaling, inflammation, and the brain is an area I think deserves a lot more attention.

Sometimes one paper opens a much bigger door.

08/05/2026

What's keeping cells in defense mode?

07/07/2026

07/07/2026

The switch is turning off the cells healing response and how to turn it back on.

07/05/2026

Recovery isn't about calming the nervous system simply for the sake of being calm.

It's about creating the conditions that allow the body to communicate, adapt, and recover more effectively.

That may sound like a small distinction, but I don't believe it is.

The nervous system isn't separate from the immune system.

Or hormones.

Or metabolism.

Or mitochondria.

It's in constant conversation with them.

When we begin seeing the body as an adaptive communication network rather than a collection of isolated parts, different questions begin to emerge.

And in my experience, better questions often lead to better decisions.